Momentum
by AgentRusco
Summary: Wash centric. I'm not yet sure exactly where it is headed.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**_ I haven't yet decided whether it is before, during or after the series. But, since it is Wash-y, it is obviously not post BDM. Anyhow, I do have most of a second chapter already written, so this will not die as a one-shot like so many of my other fics. Reviews are most appreciated.

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"Ow!" Wash yelped as he stubbed his toe on yet another rock.

"Oh, quit yer bellyaching," Mal called back from up the trail, "It ain't that hard."

Jayne came up behind Wash, dancing down the hill like a goat. "All ya need t'do is keep momentum. Y'know, the faster you move, the less likely it is that you'll trip. _Dong ma_?"

"No!" Wash said indignantly. "That doesn't even make sense. Faster is just more dan-ger-ous." He enunciated each syllable of the last word to make sure his point was clear.

Jayne shook his head. "No, cuz if you have the momentum, yer feet keep movin', y'see. Then when one gets tripped up, the other keeps right on goin' an' ya don't fall." He nodded proudly.

"I reckon that's how you do everythin', Jayne. With a great deal o' momentum." Zoe said. "It actually does make some sense."

"Damn right it does. I figured it out." He grinned crookedly and shoved Wash to make him walk again.

Wash grumbled some more, but had to admit (only in his own head, of course) that Jayne was right about the momentum thing. But he grumbled to himself. He grumbled about why he had agreed to come to this desolate rock in the first place.

"I was meant to fly, y'know." He called to the other three who were now quite a ways ahead. "This walking stuff is not my thing."

"Jist try'n keep up. We'll be there soonly." Mal said.

"Yeah. Sure." Wash kicked fiercely at a stone in his path but only ended up stubbing his toe again. He cursed quietly in Chinese as he plodded the rest of the way up the slope.

The world was Brieses; the job: an Alliance cache left over from the war. The planet was bleak. Very little vegetation grew. The sun beat fiercely upon hills and their jumble of rocks and anything trying to move across them. They had walked because the rocks were not navigable for the mule and it was too risky to bring Serenity for an air lift. So the four of them were to carry back whatever it was they were sent to get.

Mal wasn't lying when he said they were almost to their destination. Wash finally topped the last rise to see a little hollow between two tallish hills. The others were already halfway down the side toward the little town nestled in the valley. It was because of his superior vantage point that Wash saw the danger when they did not.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **_K, so this story is kinda loosing momentum. (Pun intended) I hope to continue, cos I have a good point to make concering the title, but, well, ya can't force the muse..._

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Wash knew he couldn't shout to the others about the imminent danger. He decided to put Jayne's full theory to the test. He broke into a flat-out dash down the narrow trail winding amid the rocks. He nearly tripped several times, but, as promised, his momentum kept him on his feet. His pounding footsteps worried him a bit, but they were quieter than a shout, just the same, he needed to catch up.

Jayne whirled as soon as he heard Wash running. His face held a look that was both puzzled and annoyed. Zoe and Mal turned as well to watch him descend toward them. Wash tried to signal with his hands for them to be quiet and that there was a dire problem, but while running, his flailing arms conveyed no meaning. Suprisingly though, the others remained silent as they waited for him.

Wash tried to slow down as he neared them, but his momentum was now too great and he stumbled and fell headlong at Jayne's feet in a pile of loose scree.

Jayne chuckled while Zoe helped him to his feet. "Too much momentum, little man." He said smugly.

Wash tried to talk while taking gasping breaths and brushing dust from his jumpsuit. "Over there" He gestured vaguely. "There's…"

Zoe cut him off "Sweetie, sit." He promptly did so on the nearest large rock. "Look, now you've gone and made yerself bleed." She dabbed her bandana on his lacerated palms.

"Why'd ya run? We wouldn'ta left ya too far behind." Mal said.

"It's the drop. It's, uh, tainted. I saw Alliance!"

Mal spun around and peered toward the town. "I see nothin'."

"I could see a little ship from up higher. It's at the far end of town." Wash insisted. "_Ai ya_!" He jerked his wounded hand away from his wife who had just spit on it to wipe away the grime.

"Jayne, check it out." Mal pointed over his shoulder toward the town with his thumb.

Jayne grinned and dashed off nimbly. Wash watched him navigate the rocky terrain easily and silently. He couldn't help feeling a little bit jealous of that ease.

Mal and Zoe crouched next to Wash, out of view behind a tall boulder. Zoe wrapped Wash's palms in two halves of her kerchief. They waited nearly five minutes before Jayne suddenly appeared around their shelter.

"The little man's right." He said. "There's an Alliance skiff parked on the far side of the town. Some twenty Feds wandrin' all around. Looks like somebody skunked us."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **_Some small continuation on a (still) unfinished story. I'll not likely ever finish, but every once in awhile I may keep posting more. _

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"Ain't that a pretty bit to know." Mal grumbled. "Ya figure Ol' Carrion's playin' both sides?" He raised an eyebrow in Zoe's direction.

She nodded slightly. "Seems it could be so, sir. Can't see as he'd gain all that much. Maybe just playin' us for fools."

"Seems we could turn that count about." Jayne put in raising his weapon suggestively.

Wash resignedly hung his head. "I'll leave it to you guys to do the scheming." He tried, but couldn't keep the whine from his words.

"Don't whinge, Wash." Mal gave one of his most brilliant smiles. "'Thout you we'da never known the 'Liance was even there." He patted Wash on the shoulder in a show of camaraderie. Not gently.

"So what's the plan, Mal?" Jayne peeked back over the rock. "We go for the job, or turn tail?" It was a legitimate question, but there was defiantly a longing for destruction in the mercenary's stance.

"I say we jump the _hwoon dahn_." Mal's grin joined Jayne's.

"Twenty Feds?" Zoe was being the voice of reason as usual. "Three against twenty?" She glanced significantly at her wounded husband. Wash grinned impishly.

Jayne scoffed. "That ain't so bad odds. Better if Wash'd hoist a piece." He winked knowingly in Wash's direction. Wash allowed himself a roll of the eyes.

"Hey, I've got an idea," Wash poured in all the sarcasm he could muster, "How 'bout you all go down there in flaming glory and leave me high and dry right here?" He knew that it was on their minds. Zoe immediately put her hand on his arm and gave him a stern look.

"Well, now, that ain't a bad one," Jayne began, but was quelled by Mal's look.

"I've got no notion to a direct assault on them Feds. We don't need that sorta trouble. However, we do need the job. So here's the plan."

Wash noted how quickly his not so humorous suggestion had been glossed over. Then he began to actually pay attention to the captain.

"…and Wash'll trot on back to Serenity and bring her about to cut off the skiff."

"Whoah!" Wash held up his hands. "You want to show the ship to the Fed's?"

"He's right sir," Zoe cut in before Wash could continue, "We could just as easily disable it from the ground. Wash nodded with her, as did Mal.

"Or not at all." The pilot added.


End file.
